AGRICULTURAL CREDIT AT THE TIME OF CREATION OF THE KINGDOM OF SERBS, CROATS AND SLOVENES IN THE TERITORIES OF JURISDICTION OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN LEGISLATURE

Expert contributions
Autor: Prof. Dragana Gnjatovic PhD

Summary: Peasantry of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, living in the former Austro-Hungarian provinces, had access to borrowing funds in an easier and more favourable manner than the farming population inhabiting territories of the Kingdom of Serbia until the unification in 1918. The reasons for this were multi-fold. Firstly, in the early 20th century, there was a strongly developed network of well organised private and public financial institutions in the Austro-Hungary, offering farmers easy access to loans. At the same time, farming population in the Kingdom of Serbia had available only the loans provided by the agricultural crediting cooperatives, and thus the loan-sharking flourished. Secondly, during the time of World War One, banking institutions and national crediting cooperatives in Austro-Hungary, unlike the Serbian ones, continued their work without interruption, thus without causing any delays in financing agricultural development. On the other hand, war-thorn villages in the Kingdom of Serbia were devastated and the work of agricultural crediting cooperatives suspended. Thirdly, after the unification of the State in 1918, in the field of agricultural crediting, a growing gap appeared created by the inherited differences in the legal systems prevailing in the territories under jurisdiction of Serbia and those under the Austro-Hungarian legislature. In the Kingdom of Serbia, the so-called farming or homestead laws were a stumbling block for the development of agricultural crediting, unlike to the Austrian and Hungarian legislature availing itself to the needs for financing agricultural production.

Back to top
Back to top